1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the fifth ROK-IORA Partnership Seminar on July 3, 2024, in Seoul.

* The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), established in 1997 to promote economic and social cooperation among countries along the Indian Ocean coast, welcomed the Republic of Korea as a Dialogue Partner in November 2018.

- IORA Member Countries (23): India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Iran, UAE, Yemen, Oman, South Africa, Kenya, Somalia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, France

- Dialogue Partners (12): Korea, USA, China, Japan, UK, Germany, Egypt, Türkiye, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, EU

2. The ROK-IORA Partnership Seminar is a track-1.5 platform for policy and academic exchange proposed by Korea during the 19th IORA Council of Ministers Meeting in November 2019. The seminar aims to enhance mutual understanding between Korea and IORA and explore areas of cooperation.

* Previous seminars were held in October 2020, July 2021, June 2022, and December 2023.

3. The seminar was held under the theme of ‘Harnessing sustainable ocean resources through ocean research,’ with H.E. Salman Al Farisi, the IORA Secretary General, attending the seminar in person. At the seminar, government officials from IORA member states, participants from research institutes, academics and ocean research experts discussed various ways to cooperate in the development of vast marine resources in the Indian Ocean, sharing maritime research cases from each country.

* Participants from the IORA Secretariat and the embassies of Member States in Korea attended the seminar in person, and those from IORA Member States and Dialogue partners attended online.

4. Through his opening remarks, Kim Sang-hoon, Director-General for Asian and Pacific Affairs, appreciated the role of IORA in the Indian Ocean region and also expressed Korea’s willingness to continuously cooperate with IORA for the common prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.

Furthermore, noting the enormous impact of ocean resources on our lives, he expressed his hope that at the seminar, the participants would explore together ways to harness the infinite natural resources in the Indian Ocean.

5. H.E. Salman Al Farisi, the IORA Secretary General, in his keynote speech, emphasized the significance of ocean research for the preservation of sustainable marine ecosystems in the Indian Ocean. In this context, he introduced IORA’s endeavor in the field of blue economy, including IORA’s recent signing of memorandums of understanding (MOU) with international organizations such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). He also highly appreciated the annual ROK-IORA Partnership Seminar which serves as a venue for periodic knowledge-sharing on various topics.

6. The Korean government will continue to be committed to actively contributing to the sustainable development and prosperity of the Indian Ocean community by strengthening a collaborative network with IORA, which is a major cooperation partner for Korea’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.